Buck for pressing machines



AP 2 1940 G.- H. RAwLlNscN ET AL, i533? BACK FOR PRE-SSING MACHINES Filed April 11, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet l 40x e Hf Inven ors George Iz'. Rawlinson Richard A?. Eawh'nson :Q orneys pll 2 i949 G. H. RAwLxNsoN Er m.. 2,195973'? BACK FR PRESSING MACHINES 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Richard H. Ba wh'nson G. H. vRAwLlNsoN er Az. 2,195,737

BACK FOR PRESSING MACHINES AFiled April 11, 193e April 2,. 1940.

3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fig. 7

Patented Apr. 2, 1940 PATENT OFFICE BUCK FOR PRESSING MACHINES George H. Rawlinson and Richard A. Rawlinson, Portland, Oreg.

Application April 11, 1938, Serial No. 201,352

10 Claims.

This invention relates to a so-called buck or form on which garments, particularly shirts, coats and the like, are pressed in the garment pressing machine, and this application is a continuation in part of application, Serial No. 90,656.

led July 15, 1936.

The object of this invention is to provide an improved buck on which garments of varied sizes may be properly supported and pressed.

A more specific object of this vinvention is to provide an adjustable buck, by means of which the body portion of the garment will be smoothed and held firmly during the pressing operation.

Another particular object is to provide efficient, practical adjustable means whereby those portions of the garment beneath the armholes will be properly held and stretched, and will be pressed simultaneously with the pressing of the rest of the garment body regardless of Whether the garment is form fitting (that is with the portions beneath the armholes curving inwardly), or is otherwise varied in shape or size.

Another object of this invention is to have the means for holding the side portions -of the garment constructed with suilicient exibility and resiliency to make possible the stretching of these portions to the full extent but yieldingly to a certain extent, thus without danger of tearing or otherwise injuring the garment, or in any way subjecting it to too great'a strain.

A further object of this invention is to provide a simple and efficient means for holding the garment when in draped position on the buck.

A further object is to provide movable sleeve supporting means for holding the sleeves spaced from the body of the garment and thus out of the way of the press elements during the pressing of the garment body.

A further object is to provide means for holding the collar or neckband firmly in place on the buck and so to connect this holding means and arm supporting means that both means will be operated simultaneously thru the`medium of a single control.

A still further object is to provide a surface covering for a buck of the type indicated which has sufficient resistance, resiliency and stability to produce most eiiicient results when the buck is used with pressing jaw elements.

The novel manner and means by'which the above mentioned and incidental objects'are attained, particularly the flexible adjustable and resilient means for stretching and holding the side portions of the garment properly extended and positioned during the pressing operation,

are hereinafter fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of our improved buck illustrating the various parts in position for 5 holding and stretching a garment, the garment being shown in broken lines;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the buck corresponding to Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional View on the line 10 3--3 of Fig. l, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows, the section, however, being drawn to a larger scale than Fig. 1 and parts being omitted for clarity;

Fig. 4 is a partial vertical section on the line 15 4-4 of Fig. 1 illustrating part of the operating mechanism, but also drawn tol a larger scale;

Fig. 5 is a vertical medial section showing the garment supporting and stretching mechanism;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary side elevation corre- 20 sponding to the upper portion of Fig. 5; and

' Fig. 7 is a fragmentary, more or less diagrammatic, vertical section through the buck, drawn on an enlarged scale, showing a garment on the buck and illustrating corresponding sections of 25 the pressing jaws in operative pressing position.

Referring first to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the body of the buck consists preferably of a hollow casting or vmetal shell I0 substantially elliptical in crosssection but having flattened end sections as 30 shown in Fig. 3. The upper portion of themetal shell IU is preferably shaped to resemble the shoulders and neck of a human torso, these parts of the buck being designated II and I2,respec tively, in Figs. l and 2. .Closely covering the 35 metal shell I0 and the neck portion I2 and conformably stretched thereon is a sheath I3, made of highly resilient material, such as rubber, and preferably molded in one piece, or split down the sides and fastened together there, so as to elimi- 40 nate any seams or joints on the front and back of the buck. We have found it practical and efficient to make this sheath of highly resilient rubber about 1/2 an inch in thickness, and to cover the same on the outside with a soft fabric 45 cover.

When the garment is draped on the buck and smoothly arranged to conform to the outer surface of the buck, the neck portion of the garment is clamped by means of a clamp device to 50 be described later, and the front flaps of the garment are brought into correct position and are held in this position by a flexible tape I4 .which is formed of thin metal or other suitable flexible material. The ends of the flexible tape 5B I4 are attached to upstanding rods I5, which rods are rigidly mounted on the shaft I6 and are movable thru a short arc. The shaft I6 is journaled in suitable bearings in the shell I and is provided with a snapover spring device indicated by the numeral I1 in Figs. 1 and 2, the purpose of this spring .device being to retain the shaft I6 either in the garment holding position, shown in full lines in Figs. 1 and 2, or in the detached position shown by dotted linesin Fig. 2.

A pair of exible members or stays I8 and I9, vertically disposed at each side of the buck and movable either towards or away from the sides of the buck and located approximately in the same plane with the major axis of the buck shell, are controlled by means of the lever 20. The members I8 and I9 extend from the armpit to the bottom of the shirt or garment draped on the buck, as shown in Fig. 1. These members I8 and I9 are made of metal strips or rods of such size and form that they will readily iiex and thus conform with the shape of the sides of the shirt or other garment on the buck, and, consequently, will curve inwardly, as shown in Fig. 1, when the sides of the garment are so shaped.

The lever is rigidly secured to a shaft 2|. The shaft 2| is journalled in a bracket 22 and also in a bearing 23 (see Fig. 5), which is attached to' a plate 24 mounted on the inside of the buck shell IIJ. A ratchet wheel 25 (Fig. 1) secured to the shaft 2|, and a cooperating pawl 26, pivotally mounted on the bracket 22, or other suitable device is provided for temporarily retaining the mechanism in any desired position.

A pinion 21 (Fig. 5) carried on the end of shaft 2|, co-acts with two sector gears 28 and 29 `which are rotatably mounted on the pin 30, this pin being secured to the plate, and the arrangement of these parts is such that the arms 3| and 32, which are rigidly attached to the sectors 28 and 29, respectively, are moved simultaneously towards each other by rotation of the lever 2U and shaft 2| in one direction, and away from each other by rotation of the shaft 2| in the opposite direction, the rotation of the shaft and lever inthe latter direction being made possible by disengaging the pawl 26 from the ratchet wheel 25 by actuating the pawl lever 33.

The outer ends of the arms 3| and 32 are pivotally connected' to the equalizers 34 and 35, respectively.4 The equalizer 34 is resiliently connected with the iexible member I8 by means of a pair of couplers 36 and 31, while the equalizer 35 is similarly connected resiliently with the flexible member I9 by the couplers 38and 39 (see Fig. 5). The couplers 36, 31, 38 and 39 are identical, and each coupler comprises a bar 40, pivoted at one end to the adjacent exible member, and rigidly secured at the other or inner end `to a rod 4I, shouldered at the opposite end and reciprocably disposed in a tube 42, the tube 42 being pivotally connected tothe end of the respective equalizer, and the tube 42 containing a compression spring 43. In passing thru the shell I0 of the buck, the sliding bars 40 are disposed in slotted bushings 44 which serve as bearing for the bars and also serve to retain the exible members I8 and I9 in approximate alinement with the center of the shell I0.

Thus, as the shaft2| is rotated so as to move the arms 3| and 32 and the equalizers 34 and 35 towards each other, the iiexible members I8 and I9 are correspondingly moved outward from the sides of the buck, thereby stretching the sides of the garment draped on the buck.

If unequal resistance to this movement should occur at the two points at which the flexible member is connected to its bars 4I), the corresponding equalizer would swing on its pivot, thereby permitting the bar 40. to which the least resistance is offered, to move outwardly more rapidly until the resistance to both bars is equalized.

In actual operation when the shirt or garment has been draped on the buck as previously mentioned, and when the tape I4 has been placed in holding position, the lever 2D is moved to bring the flexible members I8 and I9 against the sides of the garment. Then, when the pressing is being done, the side portions of the garment, beneath the armholes, are stretched by causing the lever 20 and shaft 2| to be given slight further movement. This insures the proper smoothing out of any wrinkles remaining in the body of the garment. The springs 43 prevent too great a stretching force from being exerted by the members I8 and I9 and the flexibility of these members I8 and I9 and the operation of the equalizers, permit the members I8 and I9 to adapt themselves to the proper shape of the garment sides.

During the pressing of the body of the garment the sleeves are held outwardly so as not to be engaged by the pressing elements, the sleeves, cuffs and collar of the gai-.1ent having been previously pressed before the garment is draped on the buck. For this purpose movable sleeve supports are provided. 'I'hese movable sleeve supports comprise slidable rods 68, 69 (see Fig. 5) extending thru bushings 10 provided in the buck shell. We have found it desirable to make the rod 68 longer than the rod 69 for a reason to be explained later on. 'I'he outer extremities of these rods are preferably fitted with balls 1| or furnished in any other way suitable for eliminating any unnecessary wear on the garment sleeves. The inner ends of the rods 68, 69 are pivotally connected to arms 64 and 65, respectively, which are pivotally mounted in the buck shell at 66 and 61, and these arms in turn are pivotally connected to the links 62 and 63, respectively. Similarly, the links 62 and 63 connect with arms 58 and 59, pivotally mounted at 60 and 6|, while the other ends of the arms 58 and 59 connect to the links 56 and 51 and which in turn are pivoted to the bottom of member 54. Downward movement of member 54 causes the rods 68 and 69 to be moved outward, and similarly upward movement of member 64 will cause these rods 68 and 69 to be moved inwardly.

A shaft 46, carrying the arms 41, is journaled in a casting 45, secured to the top of the buck. To the bottom of these arms 41 a semi-circular band 48 is secured (see Fig. 6) which band is adapted to' fit around the forward half of the neck section I2 of the buck. A rocker 49 is keyed to the shaft 46 and this rocker 49 is connected by a rod 56 to a rocker arm 5| rigidly mounted on the shaft 52, the shaft 52 being also journaled in the casting 45. A lever arm 53 is attached to the outer end of shaft 52.

The member 54, previously referred to, is centrally and slidably disposed in the bottom of the casting 45. The top of this member 54 is headed and constitutes a cam follower held in constant abutment with the cam 5I by the compression spring 55. Thus movement of the lever 53 causes the cam 5I to move member 54 downward which, by virtue of the toggle linkage, imparts an outward reciprocating movement to the sleeve supporting rods 68 and 69. Simultaneously with the downward movement oi' member 54 the cam 6I, 75

thru the connecting rod 50 and the rocker 49, imparts partial rotation to the shaft 46, thereby moving the band 48 into the collar clamping position shown in Figs. 1 and 2. When the garment is on the buck, the lever 53 is then moved to clamp the collar portion in place and to extend the sleeve supports. l

,It will be noticed in Fig. 5 that in the retracted position of the sleeve supports 68 and 69, since the rod 68 is longer than rod 69, the rod 68 is not withdrawn into the buck as much as the rod 69, but extends out part way. This has been .purposely arranged for we have found that the draping of the garment on the buck is facilitatedassuming that the garment is pulled on the buck from left to right as Viewed in Figs. 1 and 5-if the rod at the left is partly extended while the other rod is in its extreme inmost position. In this way the partly extended rod 68 serves as a convenient support for the shirt or garment while it is being slid into position on the buck. But, which is more important, when the sleeve supports are extended, the rod 6B will extend farther into the sleeve of the garment than the rod 69 and thus hold this sleeve further away from the adjacent side of the buck. When the buck is moved into position between the pressing jaws of the pressing machine, it is moved sidewise, and the sleeve ahead of the movingI buck would normally swing back against the buck side, if the buck is moved quickly, and might be caught between the pressing jaws. To prevent this, we have that sleeve held further from the buck by the rod 69.

This buck,-as mentioned, is intended to be used with external press elements which inclose the buck during the pressing operation, for example, a garment press of the enclosing concave press jaw type, (such pressing elements', for example, being shown in the co-pending application, Ser. No. 52,366, originally filed November 30, 1935, and renewed February 15, 1937, which issued as Patent No, 2,126,577, dated August 9, 1938). With the means for holding the garment on the buck which we have provided and the resilient iiexible means for stretching the garment sides while the garment is so held and during the pressing operation, the entire body portion of the garment is pressed in one operation. There is no wrinkling of any part of the body portion, even tho the shirt or garment may be form tting. And on the other hand, while all wrinkles are smoothed out or stretched out, danger of damaging the garment thru the exertion of too much stretching pressure is eliminated.

As previously mentioned, the shell I0 of the buck is covered with a resilient sheath. We have found that a sheath of vulcanized rubber of the character now to be described is essential in securing the most efficient results. The purpose of the sheath on the buck is to permit strong pressing force to be applied when the garment is on the buck, for example, approximately 12,000 lbs. without, however, breaking any buttons on the garment which may happen to be between the buck and the pressing elements; and the sheath covering must be of such nature also that, at the places where seams or pleats occur in the garment, the single thickness of the material adjacent the seam or pleat comprising multiple thicknesses will also be thoroughly pressed. Thus the sheath must be slightly compressible and displaceable.

elements or jaws, these pressing jaws will come together and squeeze portions of the garment between them. This will be understood with referenceto Fig. 7; In Fig. 7 the buck shell is indicated by I0, the sheath covering by I3, thegarment by 12 and the pressing jaws by 13 and 14.

' We have found it highly desirable so to arrange the buck and pressing jaws that the two jaws 13 and 14 will not come quite together at the top during the pressing operation, but will leave a space, such as shown at 15, of about 1/8 of an inch betweenthe opposed surfaces 13a and 14a. This will cause a slight crease to be formed at the top of the shoulders of the garment, which facilitates the folding of the garmentwhen it is removed from the buck after the pressing operation, and dispenses with the necessity of pressing a crease into the shoulders separately when the garment is to be folded. However, if the sheath on the buck were to yield too much under the pressure exerted by the pressing jaws, the two pressing jaws 13 and 14 would come together and pinch that portion of the shoulder of the garment indicated at '16. Such pinching of the shoulder portion of the garment between the pressing jaws would tend to rcut or tear the garment at ythat point. Similarly, the yielding of the sheath too much would cause undue strain at that portion of the garment where the collar is attached, and would result in the garment tearing at the neckband.

It is necessary, furthermore, that the sheath on the buck should be able to stand up under prolonged service and have suilcient comeback. If the sheath, on the other hand, were of such material as would be readily fatigued, the sheath would soon become so pressed down and deformed as to change the relationship between the bearing faces of the buck surface and the pressing elements.

As a result of various experiments with various kinds of materials for making said sheath covering we have fouhd that the material which will best meet all the requirements and give the most satisfactory result is vulcanized rubber, preferably of approximately 1/2 inch in thickness, the rubber being of such composition, consistency and resiliency, as to be capable of slight compressibility and displacement, but offering sufficient resistance as a whole to the pressure of the opposed pressing jaws to keep them spaced apart a very slight distance in the manner and for the purpose stated.

Various modifications can, of course, be made in the details of construction of the individual parts of our buck without departing from the principles of our invention. It is not our intention to restrict ourselves to the specific mechanical means shown and described for these individual parts, but the means described are intended merely as illustrative of a preferred form in which we have found it satisfactory to make such parts of our buck. It is not our intention member, a sheath covering for said shell, a neck portion, a clamping means on said neck portion, extensible sleeve supports arranged to be movable inwardly and outwardly with respect to said shell, a movably mounted member for holding a garment in draped position on the buck, and flexible side members movably mounted to stretch the sides of a draped garment on the buck when the press jaws are in pressing position against the buck.

2. In a buck for a garment press of the inclosing concave press jaw type, a pair of extensible sleeve supports operable to 'place the garment sleeves out of contact with the pressing elements while the garment is being pressed on the buck, one of said supports being longer than the other so as to extend further from the buck than the other at all times, means for extending and retracting said sleeve supports.

3. In a buck for a garment press of the inclosing concave press jaw type, a pair of extensible sleeve supports operable to place the garment sleeves out of contact with the pressing elements while the garment is being pressed on the buck, collar clamping means, and means for simultaneously applying said collar clamping means and extending said sleeve supports.

4. In a buck of the character described, including a buck shell and a covering for the same, side members movable laterally from the sides of said buck for stretching the sides of a garment draped on the buck, a pair of rods supporting each oi' said side members and extending from the interior of said shell thru one side of the same, means operable from the outside of the buck for moving said rods outwardly and inwardly, said rods having resilient connections whereby to prevent too great stretching pressure being exerted on said side members and thus on said garment sides.

5. In a buck of the character described, including a buck shell and a covering for the same, side members movable laterally from the sides of said buck forstretching the sides of a garment draped on the buck, said side members being flexible to conform readily to the shape of the garment at the sides, each of said side members supported by a pair of rods extending from the interior of said shell thru one side of the same, and means for simultaneously moving said members outwardly and inwardly.

6. In a buck of the character described, a buck shell, side members movable laterally from the members pivoted on sides of said buck for stretching the sides of a garment draped on the buck, each of said side members supported by a pair of rods extending from the interior of said shell thruone side of the same, the interior ends of each pair of said rods connected to a cross-member, each of said crossan arm, means for simultaneously moving said arms and therewith said plvoted cross-members, said pairs of rods and said side members, whereby unequal resistance imposed on one-half of said side members during their outward movement, will cause such side members to tilt until the resistance is equalized.

7. 'I'he combination described by claim 6 with said means including gears in said shell, a rotatable shaft extending into said shell, and means on the outside or said shell for rotating said shaft.

8. The combination described by claim 6 with said pairs of rods connected to said cross-members by resilient spring means.

9. In a buck for a pressing machine of the inclosing press-jaw type, a shell member, said shell having shoulder supporting portions, sleeve supports extending from said shell, extensible side members laterally movable at top and bottom from the sides of said shell below said sleeve supports to stretch the sides of the garment, means for extending said side members while the pressjaws are in pressing position against the buck.

10. A buck for pressing shirts and coats in a pressing machine of the inclosing press-jaw type comprising a shell member, a resilient covering for said shell, said shell having shoulder supporting portions, sleeve supports extending from said shell, a holding means for holding a garment in draped position on said shell, extensible side members laterally movable from the sides of said shell to stretch the sides of the garment, said side members having engaging edges of flexible material to conform to both straight and curved sided garments, lever-operated means for extending said side members when the garment is held in position on the buck by said holding means.

GEORGE H. RAWLINSON. RICHARD A. RAWLINSON. 

